07/27/2023 ISSUE 30

News 1-12 Arts 35-40 Books 30 Dining 52-55 Editorial 28 Games 31-33 Health 41-47 Insight 23-34 People 13-22 Pets 56 Real Estate 59-72 Style 48-51 July 27, 2023 Volume 16, Issue 30 Newsstand Price $2.00 TO ADVERTISE CALL 772-559-4187 FOR CIRCULATION CALL 772-226-7925 School spending buoyed by huge hike in property values. P11 Health coaches gain influence. P42 Sheriff lags far behind rival in fundraising. P10 At ORCA’s Data Jam, art meets science. P20 © 2023 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved. For breaking news visit Almost a month has passed since island resident Tiffany Justice made coast-to-coast headlines and was hailed as the leader of a national movement during the Moms For Liberty’s annual summit in Philadelphia. Given Justice’s growing stature as a co-founder of this unapologetically political group, you’d think the big-time reporters who covered the Moms’ much-hyped event would be curious about her background – particularly the four years she spent as a failed, one-term school board member here. But no one seems to be looking into that – not from the Wall Street Journal, not from the New York Times or the Washington Post, not from television’s major news networks, not even from the online news outlets. I find it odd … and disappointing. You’d think they’d want to know what in her education, Pair of island criminal cases still unresolved Two vehicular homicides one year apart on Highway A1A – with two barrier island residents dead, two families grieving – are slowly making their way through criminal courts as two defendants navigate the State of Florida’s felony justice system. Jamie Jarvontae Williams, the Fort Pierce man responsible for the high-speed crash on A1A which killed pedestrian South Beach resident Michael Gianfranceso and his dog in May 2021, entered a plea of no contest to vehicular homicide and to violating his probation for felony firearm charges at the time of the crash. Court documents state Williams wanted his sentences run concurrently, and Judge Robert Meadows honored that, sentencing Williams to 15 years BY LISA ZAHNER Staff Writer CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 Brightline tests give county taste of speedy trains to come Brightline blasted its new passenger trains through Indian River County at 110 mph this past week in a test of how things will go when it starts regular service between Orlando and South Florida on Sept. 1. Brightline ran high-speed trains through 31 of the 32 railroad crossings in Indian River County, excluding only CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 Cash deals have always led the real estate parade on the island, especially in the upper end of the market. But now, in the post-panBY STEVEN M. THOMAS Staff Writer Cash is king in Vero property market – and baby boomers have a lot of it BY GEORGE ANDREASSI Staff Writer demic world, pure, unadulterated cash plays an even bigger role in Vero’s property market, flowing more freely on the island and spilling over onto the mainland – and a majority of it is coming from baby boomers. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 For the first time in 70 years, the Humane Society of Vero Beach has stopped taking in animals. The shelter, which has rescued and rehomed tens of thousands of stray and surrendered animals since 1953, announced it had temporarily closed its admissions department last week “in light of the critical lack of space to accommodate the unprecedented influx of owner surrendered and stray animals.” “HSVB is beyond capacity,” said chief communications officer Tracey Kinsley. “We’ve had a 71 percent increase in owner surrenders and 25 percent increase in strays, year to date.” But while the number of animals being brought BY SAMANTHA ROHLFING BAITA Staff Writer CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS; ILLUSTRATION BY DAN ALEXANDER Crisis situation as shelter stops taking in animals MY VERO BY RAY MCNULTY The stories we could tell about this Mom ...

2 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ in has soared, adoptions have not. There is simply no more room to house any additional cats and dogs until local residents adopt those already in the shelter. The overwhelming supply of unwanted and homeless pets, as compared to demand, is not just a local problem. Shelters across the country are experiencing similar overcrowding. The crisis has come on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which millions of people, confined to their homes, began adopting pets for comfort and companionship – and are now finding their work and school schedules too busy to care for them. That, coupled with housing challenges, families relocating or struggling financially due to high inflation – which has sent the cost of pet food through the roof – has forced too many to give up the pets they adopted. “The decision to temporarily close the admissions department was by no means an easy one,” said CEO Kate Meghji, and Kinsley said the HSVB found it disheartening that initial public reaction to the move has largely been negative and critical. “But the overwhelming surge in intakes made it necessary to ensure the safety and well-being of the animals already in the shelter’s care … and ensure that we can continue providing quality care and attention to every animal under our protection,” Meghji said. She stressed that despite the temporary closure, the Humane Society “remains committed to finding forever homes for the animals currently in their care, and adoption services are still available.” Meanwhile, H.A.L.O., a no-kill shelter located on U.S. 1 in Sebastian, is also dealing with the pressures of limited space and an influx of animals. CEO Jackie Petrone says H.A.L.O. always has a waiting list and works with other shelters and individuals who foster, in order to find space for the animals in need who find their way to the North County shelter. “Intakes are much harder this year across the country,” Petrone observed. “Surrenders are up, euthanasia is up, adoptions are down, the economy is down, the cost of pet food is up, it’s more expensive to adopt. “We’re having a Clear the Shelter event in August, but the momentum is down. We’re always at capacity. It’s a daily juggle. The animal world is not warm and fuzzy these days,” Petrone said. Amid this overpopulation at the Humane Society, Meghji recently announced that she will be leaving effective Aug. 8 after nearly five years at the helm to move out of state. During her tenure, Meghji spearheaded several groundbreaking programs, including earning no-kill status, ensuring no healthy or treatable animals would be euthanized because of lack of space, resources or time. She will take a position with the Humane Rescue Alliance in Washington, D.C. to “advocate for the welfare of animals on a broader scale.” NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Animal shelter full “Realistically, it comes down to the fact that baby boomers are the ones who have all the money,” said Berkshire Hathaway agent Chip Landers. His statement is backed up by Seniorliving.org, which reports that boomers possess 80 percent of personal assets in the United States, and by The Motley Fool financial website that says boomers have 70 percent of the country’s disposable income at their slightly arthritic fingertips. “It is all cash,” said Landers, who does a majority of his business on the mainland. “They cash out in the Northeast, selling their house for $1.5 million, and then come down here and buy for $500,000 and put the rest in the bank. “Before the pandemic, my business was probably 70 percent financed and 30 percent cash. Today, 75 to 80 percent of my deals are all cash.” Landers is not alone. An interactive, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Baby boomers and their cash PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 3 any generation – an increase from 29 percent last year,” according to “Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends,” an annual report from the National Association of Realtors. “Baby boomers have the upper hand in the homebuying market,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research. “The majority of them are repeat buyers who have housing equity to propel them into their dream home – be it a place to enjoy retirement or a home near friends and family. They are living healthier and longer and making housing trades later in life.” Boomers – born between 1946 and 1964 – also reaped the greatest benefits of any generation from the biggest bull market ever witnessed on Wall Street. With a few ups and downs along the way, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than fourfold in the past 10 years and went up 1,000 percent over the past 30 years, from 3,500 in 1993 to more than 35,000 as of Monday, turning a $100,000 Clintonera investment into $1 million today. As a result, boomers now posNEWS CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 color-coded map created by the Washington Post that shows the percentage of cash buyers by county blankets much of mainland Indian River County with dark shades of brown, indicating cash deals, accounting for 60 percent to 70 percent or more of real estate transactions. Of course, the 32963 barrier island is the deepest, darkest shade of brown from one end to the other, but the increase in cash is harder to detect beachside because greenbacks already predominated. “There’s absolutely been an increase in real cash buyers from a year or two years ago, when cash wasn’t really cash in many cases,” said Douglas Elliman broker-associate Sally Daley. “We always had 70 to 80 percent cash contracts but a good chunk – I’ll guestimate 60 percent – were putting cash on the contract to smooth the deal but actually securing cheap financing” at rates below 3 percent, the lowest in the history of mortgage financing. Facing unprecedented competition for houses, buyers wrote cash contracts to make their offers more attractive to sellers while still taking advantage of rock bottom mortgage rates – a strategy that entailed some risk. “To offer ... a contract free of all contingencies after the agreed upon inspection period – 10-15 days typically – many buyers with sufficient resources offered cash with no contingency to obtain financing, but in fact obtained financing to close the contract,” Daley explained. “Anybody who did this, of course, needed to have absolute confidence in their ability to get the loan, and have sufficient reserves to close in the unlikely event the financing was delayed or denied, as the contract would have no safety net to protect them. Once the inspection condition was removed, any contract free of conditions leaves only an obligation to perform on the buyer.” Now, with interest rates two and half times what they were on Jan. 1, 2021, when they dipped to a pandemic low of 2.65 percent, and prices much higher than they were before COVID-19 came along, the average financed buyer is looking at a monthly payment that’s double what it would have been in 2019 for the same house. So cash, if you’ve got it or can get it from “the bank of mom and dad,” has become more popular everywhere. According to the Washington Post, the percentage of cash contracts is the highest it has been in a decade. Not coincidentally, this flood of cash comes as baby boomers expand their share of the real estate market. “Baby boomers now make up 39 percent of homebuyers – the most of

4 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ sess more than $50 trillion in house wealth, stocks, bonds and other resources, according to Forbes. Other sources put the number at $60-$70 trillion. On top of whichever figure is correct, they are set to inherit another $15 trillion from their aging “silent generation” parents. And most of that wealth will be passed on to their children and grandchildren – some of it in the form cash allotments used to purchase homes that Gen Xers and millennials often cannot afford on their own. “Between higher home prices, higher interest rates, higher insurance costs and all the rest, it’s tough for younger people to get their foot in the door without help from the bank of mom and dad,” Landers says. “Whether a baby boomer is in the buyer's market looking to downsize or fund a child’s purchase, it is this group that has allowed the housing market to remain buoyant,” according to a report from nbcnews.com. “With the pandemic lift in home values, equity-rich boomers are uniquely qualified to remain in the market, regardless of the interest rate environment,” says Daley. “There is no doubt that boomers and their wealth create a NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 Baby boomers and their cash

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 5 dynamic that is helping keep the market afloat.” Looking ahead, island brokerages are well positioned to benefit from that dynamic. Boomers range in age from 57 to 75 this summer. About half of them are 65 or older, with 10,000 more crossing into traditional retirement territory each day. That is good for Vero Beach because the city attracts way more than its fair share of people 65 and older. The latest census figures show that 16.8 percent of U.S. residents are 65 or older, but in Florida the percentage is 21.1 percent, the second-highest percentage in the country, after Maine. And Indian River County far outstrips the state in this category, with people 65 and older making up 35.2 percent of the population, more than double the national average. The number of 65 and older residents on the barrier island is even higher, estimated now at about 55 percent. Because Vero Beach has attracted a disproportionate number of people 65 and older in the past – boomers with cash looking for houses – it is likely that trend will continue as the group keeps up its rapid expansion, bringing a steady flow of qualified buyers to real estate offices along Ocean and Cardinal Drives and Highway A1A. NEWS

6 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ professional experience or public past might qualify her for the out-front role she’s now playing in Republican politics and the ongoing culture war that continues to divide our nation. At the very least, you’d think they’d want to know what the Vero Beach community thinks of her. Apparently, though, there is no such interest – because my Internet search last weekend produced no links to national news stories that discuss, in any meaningful detail, Justice’s life before the birth of the Moms in January 2021. There are only the basics: She’s a 44-year-old mother of four children, ages 11 to 18; she has been married for 19 years; she was a stay-at-home mom for more than a decade; and she served on the Indian River County School Board. There’s only what she wants everyone to know – not what we know, and not what the rest of the country needs to know about the face of a smallbut-vocal group that claims to have 120,000 members and 285 chapters in 44 states. Truth is, we haven’t seen much of Justice the past couple of years. She’s not active in our local discourse, and there’s not much appetite in this community for the concocted cause she champions elsewhere. Instead, you’ll find her in Tallahassee, or Washington, D.C., or anywhere else she can attract an audience for the polarizing propaganda the Moms spout under the guise of advocating for parental rights. She knows she has no platform here. We saw how little Justice offered in the way of public service during her often-chaotic stint on our School Board, where she wasted too much of everyone’s time squabbling childishly with then-chair Laura Zorc. Justice regularly provoked conflict and stirred controversy with petty antics and snarky remarks that antagonized Zorc and too often dragged the board into crippling dysfunction. “There has been tension since Day 1 with Mrs. Justice,” Zorc said during a 2021 board workshop, referring to a strained relationship that other board members say made them uncomfortable. Mara Schiff, a Florida Atlantic University professor who shared the dais with Justice and Zorc for two years, said: “The ongoing cat-fighting was both toxic and embarrassing to me as an elected member of the School Board. “More significantly, though, it took both time and attention from the far more important school board matters around actual education governance,” she added. “It was undignified, it was unprofessional and, in my opinion, it was juvenile.” Throughout her term, Justice proved she was ill-equipped for – and overmatched by – a job that required more than simply caring about children. She lacked the maturity to handle scrutiny and the mettle to absorb criticism, whether from the public, other board members or the local press. And there was plenty to criticize, especially her foolish attacks on this newspaper, which endeavored to provide its readers with tough-but-fair coverage of Justice and the board. In fact, a review of Justice’s district phone records revealed a troubling text-message conversation between her and then-superintendent Mark Rendell in March 2019, when she wrote: “I am starting the takedown of 32963.” Those same phone records also showed that Rendell spoke to and texted with Justice noticeably more than he did with other board members. Most of their exchanges concerned district business, but many others resembled friendly and occasionally personal conversations. That could explain Justice’s fierce and relentless defense of Rendell, who, as I wrote at the time, “struggled noticeably during a tumultuous tenure marked by scandal, controversy and other problems resulting from his many wrongheaded decisions.” It was Justice’s very public and unwavering support of Rendell, however, that spawned rumors of an inappropriate relationship – which made headlines when she tried unsuccessfully to have a longtime school district employee criminally prosecuted and fired for alluding to such gossip in social media posts. Though Justice initiated the vendetta, which involved the Sheriff’s Office and produced a stream of news reports and columns that generated more publicity than the Twitter posts deserved, she naively blamed this newspaper for keeping the story alive. Later, during a Florida School Board Association training session in March 2021, Justice accused Zorc of being the source of those rumors. Justice said she didn’t trust Zorc, then whined about the lack of support she received from others on the dais, claiming that the board members’ reluctance to rally around her amid the NEWS CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 My Vero

8 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ the Roseland Road crossing just south of the St. Sebastian River Railroad Bridge, according to Brightline’s most recent construction update. “We wrapped up the Indian River County testing (Sunday),” said Brightline spokeswoman Katie Mitzner. “The next testing will be Brevard (County), which right now is scheduled for Thursday.” Brightline plans to operate 32 trains per day between Orlando and South Florida, 16 in each direction between NEWS rumors was why she “felt so miserable” around them. Zorc denied the accusation, saying at the session, “I had nothing to do with those rumors.” She also defended her actions in dealing with Justice’s questioning of her board leadership. More disturbing, though, was Justice’s manipulation of the board and its secretary to call what was an unlawful meeting in April 2019, after the panel voted to not extend Rendell’s contract beyond 2020. When Rendell offered to resign, Justice promptly skirted board rules and arranged a special-call meeting at which she attempted to convince the panel to use taxpayer dollars to give Rendell the severance package he sought. It wasn’t until after Justice and board member Jackie Rosario engaged in a heated verbal exchange – Rosario called Justice a “liar” – that Justice finally admitted she had called the meeting, even though she lacked the statutory authority to do so. The board members ultimately rejected Justice’s efforts to hand Rendell a payoff, which he didn’t deserve after leaving the district in a financial and administrative mess. Days later, they would learn he had already accepted a job as the principal at Cocoa Beach Junior/Senior High School. This episode, however, was yet another example of Justice putting her own agenda and need to settle personal scores above the collective efforts of the board and best interests of the school district. That would be the underlying theme of her four-year term and, ultimately, her legacy in this community. That, and shameless hypocrisy. For example: Justice, who continues to embrace the efforts of Moms chapters across the U.S. to remove from school libraries books it deems inappropriate, was a member of the School Board that approved the purchase of some of those books here. Justice, who was neither seen nor heard here as our county’s Moms chapter pushed successfully in May for the repeal of the School Board’s racial equity policy, was a member of the previous board that voted unanimously to adopt the policy in 2020. Justice, whose group says it will not “partner with government” and claims to be nonpartisan, participated in the strategy session last winter when Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the names of 14 incumbent school board members he’s targeting for defeat in next year’s elections. DeSantis’ hit list, by the way, includes two incumbents here – lifelong Republican Brian Barefoot, a former Indian River Shores mayor whose 2020 candidacy convinced Justice not to seek a second term, and current chair, Peggy Jones, who might be the most qualified and effective school board member in the county’s history. Also, several prominent Republicans, including DeSantis and former president Donald Trump, spoke at the supposedly nonpartisan Moms’ summit, which news reports say attracted about 700 people. At that summit, Justice was cheered as if she were a rock star, promoting the group’s core belief that parents – not trained educators, particularly those who work in public schools – should decide what and how to teach their children. Justice carried that same arrogant and combative attitude to Beachland Elementary School during the COVID-19 epidemic in April 2021, when, no longer a board member, she visited her son’s classroom, ostensibly because he was struggling with wearing a mask. While there, however, Justice’s disruptive behavior instigated on-campus confrontations with her son’s teacher, Beachland’s principal and even Assistant School Superintendent Scott Bass, who was summoned to the scene. You’d think the national news media would want to know all this – get to know the Tiffany Justice we know. Maybe they’ll call today. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 My Vero CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Brightline test runs CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

10 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ NEWS the hours of 5 a.m. and 12:20 a.m., starting Sept. 1. Tickets will sell for $79 and up for adults. Passenger trains will reach speeds of up to 110 mph in Indian River County, while Florida East Coast Railway operates approximately 20 freight trains per day at speeds ranging from 40-to60 mph. Construction began in April 2019 on the $2.8 billion project, constructing high-speed railroad tracks between its West Palm Beach station and a new transit terminal at Orlando International Airport. Brightline upgraded the FECR tracks from West Palm Beach to Cocoa and built new high-speed railroad tracks along the Beachline Expressway/State Road 528 between Cocoa and Orlando International Airport. On June 21, Brightline celebrated the completion of construction on the 170-mile-long project. “Completing this project is the culmination of more than a decade of dedication, determination and hard work,” said Brightline CEO Mike Reininger, during the celebration. “We have built something remarkable.” Palm Beach County is evaluating plans for commuter service along the section of Brightline’s corridor north of West Palm Beach to Jupiter, according to Brightline’s March 2023 bond offering. As many as seven new commuter stations could be built along the route, including in Jupiter. But the 1,834-page Florida Development Finance Corp. document makes no mention of a Treasure Coast or Cocoa station. In the past, Brightline has said the location of a Treasure Coast station CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Island crime cases unresolved in state prison, and five years for the violation of probation, to run concurrently, giving Williams credit for the 697 days he’s spent in county jail. But the case is not quite over, as Williams has petitioned the court to withdraw his plea, stating that he was led to believe that his plea would result in a “reduced sentence below the guideline,” court papers say. Williams filed a pro se motion from jail, and has been assigned an attorney from the Office of Regional Conflict Counsel for his hearing next month. Meanwhile, Orchid resident Elizabeth Jewkes Danielsen, arrested in January for the vehicular homicide of John’s Island resident Christopher Ingraham and for driving under the influence causing serious personal injury to widow Frances Ingraham, is still awaiting trial for the May 2022 crash on A1A in Indian River Shores. Jewkes Danielsen’s defense attorney Andy Metcalf has begun taking depositions of Indian River Shores Public Safety officers who worked the case. Jewkes Danielsen and her husband Paul are also being sued in civil court by the Ingraham family and by the personal representative of Christopher Ingraham’s estate for damages. Complaints in the two cases allege that Paul Danielsen, an attorney from California, had also been speeding north on Highway A1A at the time of the crash, racing home to Orchid with he and his wife in separate vehicles. Police say the couple had been drinking at an Ocean Drive restaurant prior to getting on the road. Jewkes Danielsen’s blood tested more than three times Florida’s legal limit for intoxicated driving. Flowers has raised far less than rival in race for sheriff BY RAY MCNULTY Staff Writer Sheriff Eric Flowers raised $40,300 in the first month of his re-election campaign. He also took in more than $22,106 in in-kind contributions. However, all but four of those inCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Brightline test runs would be determined by a ridership study to be conducted five years after service starts between Orlando and South Florida.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 11 The School District of Indian River County will get less state and federal money in the coming school year than in 2022-23, but local property taxes, boosted by big gains in property values, will enable raises and improved benefits for the county’s public school teachers. The total proposed school district budget for the next year sits at just under $320 million, a $12.4 million increase from the previous year. The tax rate is set to decrease by 1.25 percent, from $5.98 per $1,000 of taxable value to $5.91 per $1,000 of taxable value, but in almost all cases, rising assessed property values will mean more school district taxes due this fall. Taxable property values districtwide increased by $4.5 billion this year. Island homeowners pay roughly $3,000 in school district property taxes for every half-million dollars in assessed property value. The budget was designed according to the ACHIEVE 2025 District Strategic Plan, which is packed with jargon like “alignment of academic improvement processes” and “increased focus on programmatic evaluation.” The district says that so far, its strategy has translated to “unprecedented levels of success and growth” on state tests. Indian River County public schools have improved their state rankings in many subjects and categories – most notably jumping from 46th in the state to 12th in the state on biology end-of-course exam scores, and from 31st in the state to seventh in NEWS School spending buoyed by huge hike in property values here BY CASEY STAVENHAGEN Staff Writer CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 kind contributions – they totaled more than $19,600 – came from Flowers himself. According to Flowers’ July 10 filing with the county’s Supervisor of Elections Office, most of the “Candidate to Themselves” contributions were campaign items that appeared to be left over from his successful 2020 run for sheriff. They included clothing, signage, bumper stickers, balloons, pens, cups, plasticware, business cards, envelopes, party supplies, pop-up tents, folding tables, coolers, cornhole boards, a generator and golf cart wrap with logo seats. Signs and frames accounted for more than $9,500 of the in-kind contributions the 43-year-old sheriff made to his campaign. Flowers did not respond to an email sent by Vero Beach 32963 asking him to explain the in-kind contributions and identify which of them were initially acquired for his 2020 campaign. He spent $234,445 during that COVID-impacted race. Even with the in-kind contributions he made to his 2024 campaign, the combined $62,406 Flowers raised last month was considerably less than the $128,500 collected by his top challenger. Sheriff’s Captain Milo Thornton, a familiar face in the community but a political newcomer, raised $127,500 in money – plus another $1,000 in in-kind contributions – in the first month of his campaign after filing to run in April. He has since added $76,300 in May and $20,300 in June, bringing his monetary-contributions tally to nearly $224,000. Donations to a “Friends of Milo Thornton” political action committee give him a war chest of more than $300,000. As of mid-July, Thornton’s campaign had spent nearly $12,000 of that money. Fellsmere Police Chief Keith Touchberry, who also is seeking the Republican nomination for sheriff in 2024, filed to run in November and has raised nearly $68,000. The 59-year-old runner-up to Flowers in the 2020 primary, he already has spent more than $18,000 on his campaign. Deborah Cooney, a 60-year-old former bank executive, is running again as a no-party-affiliation candidate after suffering a landslide loss to Flowers in the 2020 general election. As of a week ago, her campaign had raised $5,400, and she already had spent more than $4,000 of that amount.

12 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ the state in third-grade English scores. Of the school district’s $207 million general fund, 70 percent goes to teacher salaries, benefits and personnel costs, including $28.3 million for “talent development and support.” The balance pays for utilities, equipment, supplies and fuel for fleet vehicles. With its buildings and sports venues aging, the school district’s capital outlay fund is increasing by $7 million this coming year. Each middle school will get one additional dean, behavior technicians were added for elementary schools, and four ROTC teacher positions for the high schools rounded out new faculty positions in the budget. The district spends 3 percent of its overall budget on the superintendent’s office, school board offices, communication, engagement and public information. NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 School spending

‘TAKE A KID FISHING’ NOVICE ANGLERS CATCH ON QUICK BRAD AND LINDAN GREENAWAY

14 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Giggles of glee and squeals of delight (plus a few pouts over the ones that got away) emanated from nearly 100 children who had been treated by members of the Kiwanis Club of VeroTreasure Coast to Take a Kid Fishing, a free morning of fishing fun. Their poles at the ready, the contingent of eager young anglers – ages 4 to 12 – lined the fishing catwalk under the Barber Bridge, all hoping to catch ‘the biggest fish ever.’ Despite minor trepidation over baiting the hooks with pieces of raw shrimp and touching what they’d landed, qualms were quickly overcome with every nibble. In many cases their parents and grandparents were equally thrilled by the morning’s activities. Fishing chairman Tom McMahon organized the event this year, leading a team of some 30 Kiwanians who arrived in the pre-dawn hours to get everything in order and put out the rods and reels they were providing. During the event, volunteers were kept busy refilling cups with bait donated by Vero Tackle and Marina and measuring the catches for much coveted prizes. “This is what it’s all about. I love hearing this. It just doesn’t get any better,” said longtime Kiwanian Al Sammartino, watching as one little girl excitedly exclaimed, “I got a crab! I got a crab!” As another little boy dangled his catch by the measuring table, Sammartino glanced over and said, “That kid must have caught seven grunts.” Sammartino said they are actively encouraging greater participation in Kiwanis youth clubs: K-Kids, for kindergarten to fifth grade; Builders Club, sixth to eighth grade; and Key Club, high school students. Many of the younger club members participated in Take a Kid Fishing, while the older ones were helping out. Linda Braun and Deb Lockwood. PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS BY MARY SCHENKEL Staff Writer Novice anglers catch on quick at ‘Take a Kid Fishing’ event Mariana and Kayla Negron. PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS Al, Mark and Luke Sammartino.

PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 15 “So our goal is, we’re trying to get a club in every school,” he explained. Youth clubs are involved with community service projects, including beach cleanups and helping out at local schools and nonprofits such as Shining Light Garden. “We had 35 little kids doing beach cleanups. I think what people don’t realize is that when you take a kid at this age and you have them go on the beach and pick up trash that isn’t theirs, they’ll never throw another CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 Linda Braun and Deb Lockwood. PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS Raymond Wright-Osment. Steven and Cali Ann Rich.

16 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ piece of trash on the beach again, because they know who’s going to have to pick it up,” said Sammartino. Take a Kid Fishing was all catchand-release, but nobody went home hungry, as boxed lunches and pizza were given to children and adults alike. Take a Kid Fishing is one of many annual community service events hosted by the local Kiwanis Club, founded in 1973. They also organize f u nd ra i sers so they might provide volunteer and financial support to civic projects and local nonprofit organizations. For more information, visit VeroKiwanis.com. Elena Lucaci and Paula Lopez. Mark and Connor Heinbockel. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 Mateo Mondragon. John and Jude Ventriello. Dorian Moody. Nicholas, Admiral and Nicholas Sanders. Jim Wolfe and Tim Wright. Garrett Blackburn.

PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 17 Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club members and guests raced to the finish line at their 21st annual 5K Walk/Run to benefit the Senior Resource Association Meals on Wheels program. The sweat and generosity of 74 race participants and 100 sponsors raised $23,000 that will go directly toward providing daily hot meals to homebound local seniors. In addition to delivering nutritional meals, SRA volunteers conduct daily wellness checks and make much-needed human connections. For many of these seniors, it is the only face-to-face contact they have. Liz Bruner, SRA vice president of philanthropy, said there are currently some 300 seOrchid club hustles up funds for seniors’ Meals on Wheels BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Staff Writer CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 Alysia and Jay Bowsher. Left to right: Amanda Hope, Patty Blatus, Danny Trennepohl, Bill Kennedy, Liz Bruner, Kainoa Rosa, Brittany Jackson and Rob Tench. PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF

18 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ niors on the Meals on Wheels wait list, 100 more than last year. “Our members really look forward to this each year,” said Rob Tench, Orchid Island general manager. The committee selects a different beneficiary each year, explained Bill Kennedy, Orchid’s board of governors’ racquets and fitness committee chair. “We usually do things that benefit youth. This year, we said, ‘Why don’t we do something that benefits senior citizens?’ We like to support nonprofits that our members support to leverage their contributions. Several of our members were involved with this charity, and we thought it was a good thing for us to be involved in,” said Kennedy. “It’s a small way in which we can give back to the community and help those that are in need of food. We hope people will see that the need is there and step up and support Meals on Wheels,” said Tench. Kennedy said it is imperative that the charity they select is local and that the money stays in Vero Beach. “We’re part of the community. We live here too. We like to give back to the community,” he added. In addition to Meals on Wheels, the Senior Resource Association works to improve the quality of life for seniors with programs such as Day Away, Public Guardianship, In-Home services, emergency alert services, energy bill assistance, medical equipment, and transportation through the Community Coach and GoLine. For more information, visit SeniorResourceAssociation.org. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 Rob Tench and Liz Bruner. Bill Kennedy and Brittany Jackson. Patty Blatus and Danny Trennepohl. Amanda Hope and Kainoa Rosa.

20 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Local creatives took science to the next level when they answered a challenge by the Ocean Research Conservation Association to express datasets, collected by ORCA citizen scientists, in an artistic fashion rather than through traditional means. Their efforts were applauded at the Data Jam: Combining Art and Science Awards Ceremony, which took place at the Riverhouse, a fitting location due to its proximity to the picturesque lagoon. “Our mission is to protect and restore aquatic waterways and the species that those waterways sustain, with a particular emphasis on the Indian River Lagoon,” said Missy Weiss, ORCA citizen ‘Pretty amazing’ mix: Art meets science at ORCA’s Data Jam BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Staff Writer Edie Widder and Michelle Martin. PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS Front: Laine Kazmerowski and Reva Ullian. Back: Reed Ullian, Emmy Kazmerowski, Liz Kazmerowski and Liz Ullian.

PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 21 science and education director. By engaging the community in scientific research, Weiss explained that they can obtain a deeper understanding of what is happening to the lagoon. She added that the Data Jam allows participants to hone their analytic and interpretive skills, and “advances people’s scientific knowledge and experiences.” ORCA provided participants with four datasets collected by citizen scientists and asked them to interpret the data artistically. “Something innovative. Something unique and that allows the viewer to look at that artwork and know exactly what the data is telling them through that artistic piece. So, it’s about telling the story of data,” said Weiss. And they did just that, using everything from clay to computers, with the results ranging from dioramas to dramatic productions. “Art is a universal language. It is something that, no matter what you’re trying to convey, is something that we can all relate to. We are thankful that you took our data, flipped it on its head, and merged it with science. Such an important thing to do, especially for the younger generation,” added Weiss. Afterward, Edie Widder, Ph.D., ORCA founder and CEO, connected art and science with a presentation Book Today And SAVE $55 772-766-0079 SHACKSHINE.COM We’ll give you the shiniest house on the block Book your appointment today! BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT TODAY! We’ll give you the shinest house on the block. Book your appointment today! Tommy McLaughlin, Vinny Topalian and Nicole Campanelli. Grace, Eric and Jillian Johnson. Ariela, Mark, Liam and Milena Kelly. CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

22 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ on Why Art Matters in Science. “Data Jam isn’t just about creating works of art from data. It’s about generating new kinds of insights. For that to be effective, it needs to start as young as possible. Scientists and artists have to learn to communicate,” said Widder. “That’s what Data Jam is about, and these kids give me hope that they really can do that. They did some pretty amazing stuff here,” said Widder, before sharing examples of the ways art has helped to advance scientific discoveries throughout the ages. “Art and science are the two most powerful tools that we have to explain our place in the world and explain our world. It’s often treated as a dichotomy, but they are actually synergistic and can empower each other,” said Widder. For more information, visit team orca.org. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 Annette O’Malley, 81, wife of Peter O’Malley, president, Los Angeles Dodgers (1970-1998), passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her family after a longstanding lung illness on July 19, 2023 in Los Angeles. For 50 years, she always looked forward to spring training with her family at unique Dodgertown, Vero Beach, FL, now known as the Jackie Robinson Training Complex. The O’Malleys developed many longtime friends in Indian River County. In 2015, the O’Malleys and Terry O’Malley Seidler hosted a Thanksgiving family reunion at Dodgertown, including dinner at Vero’s McKee Botanical Garden around the world’s largest one-piece mahogany table, then on loan and since donated by Peter to McKee. The daughter of Dr. Alfred and Tove Zacho, Annette was born February 1, 1942 in Copenhagen. She was introduced to Peter O’Malley in 1970 through mutual friend Lauritz Melchior, the renowned Danish Heldentenor opera star, who hosted a dinner party and sat the two next to each other. She was in Los Angeles while taking a leave from her position as costume supervisor and designer at Copenhagen’s Royal Danish Theatre to look for opportunities in L.A.’s film industry. Several nights later, Peter invited her to the Hollywood Bowl. One year later, the couple was married July 10, 1971 at St. Ansgar’s Roman Catholic Church in Copenhagen. Several friends from Vero Beach joined the wedding party. Annette attended the Bernadotte School in Copenhagen; the Croydon College of Art in London; and the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris, pursuing her passion for design and graphics. For decades, Annette was active as a volunteer for numerous charitable causes and events, including the Los Angeles Music Center’s Amazing Blue Ribbon 400, a women’s support organization since 1971, where she was on its board of directors for many years. In 2022, Annette was made an honorary member of the organization’s board. She served as a member of Harvard-Westlake School’s Board of Trustees. Annette made many trips abroad with Peter in support of international baseball and, on October 7, 1984, was invited by South Korea Baseball Commissioner Gen. Jyong-Chul Suh to throw the ceremonial first pitch prior to Game 7 of the professional Korea Championship Series in Seoul. Her many interests included friends, skiing, horses, reading, swimming, music and life. Her family and the Dodgers were the loves of her life and she is survived by Peter, her husband of 52 years, their three adult children – Katherine, Kevin and Brian – eight grandchildren (Chloe, Peter, Grace, Brendan, Brooke, Margaret, Autumn & Julian), and her sister Merete Lunn. Service for immediate family was held. Annette O’MAlley Jade Herdocia, Briella Sullivan and Alissa Winfrey. Karen and Bob Nikla. Lorri Dior and Carole Jones. Debra Morse and Missy Weiss. Hannah and Wyatt Kile. FIRST-PLACE WINNERS: Elementary Division Casey Watkins, Alissa Winfrey, Keira Taylor, Briella Sullivan, Jade Herdocia, Kenley Millar, Anabella Botero, Natalia Lewis, Osceola Magnet School 5th Grade group project Middle School Division Aniela Kelly, Oslo Middle School Adult Division Mary Lou Martin, ORCA Citizen Scientist

Wilderness vs Minerals

24 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ INSIGHT COVER STORY AMBLER, Alaska – From the peak of a mountain here, you can see the past and possible future of one of the largest protected parks on Earth. This is the Brooks Range, roughly 50 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Sweeping green and golden ridgelines tower over lush valleys, which give way to wide, glacial blue rivers. The landscape is completely undeveloped. There is no road or other infrastructure in sight. Looking east is Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Looking west is Kobuk Valley National Park. And looking straight down: the site of a potential open-pit mine. There’s roughly $7.5 billion worth of copper under this mountain that the mining venture Ambler Metals wants to extract, which could help build the wind turbines and batteries needed to address climate change. But that bounty – and others like it across the United States – have created a dilemma for Washington. President Biden wants more domestic minerals production to support his climate agenda, but his aides are struggling to find domestic mine sites that don’t risk damaging wildlands and sacred natural treasures. To reach the minerals here would require a 211-mile road through the heart of this Arctic expanse. It would cross 11 major rivers and hundreds By Timothy Puko and Lillian Cunningham | Washington Post of streams, breaking apart unspoiled tundra and the migratory path of tens of thousands of caribou. Twenty-six of those miles would carve through Gates of the Arctic, sending giant haulers and other industrial trucks through one of the country’s most remote national parks and preserves. The proposal has led to eight years of bureaucratic wrangling and political pressure from environmentalists to kill it. Because it crosses federal land, the Biden administration must decide the road’s fate. Gates of the Arctic National Park is one of the most remote in the system. But even here, the outside world is finding its way in. What’s at stake if it does? Dirk Nickisch, a bush pilot who has been flying over the Brooks Range for decades, said it’s hard to grasp the region’s beauty without seeing it from on high. “You take off and you fly for hours and see mountains extending on and on, and river valleys untouched,” he said. He said it would be “devastating” if a truck route were cut through this landscape, and more could follow. “It’s not going to just be this one road,” he said. “It’s going to be all the spur roads that go off to mines.” For now, this mountaintop is only reachable by helicopter, and it boasts just a small platform the size of an office cubicle. A drill deep in the Earth explores the metals and minerals below. But if the Ambler project becomes operational, much of the mountainside would be shorn and scooped out to reach the minerals underneath to sell on the global market. Cal Craig, the environmental and permitting manager for the mining company, said he can understand why Wilderness vs Minerals A miner takes in the view from a drilling site in Ambler Metal’s Arctic deposit area in the Ambler Mining District in Alaska on Sept. 6, 2022. Top: Miners work at a drilling site in Ambler Metal’s Arctic deposit area. Center left: A road zigzags across the landscape near exploratory drilling sites. Center right: Core samples at a drilling site.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 25 INSIGHT COVER STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 26 some might be nervous. He himself decided to take the job after being captivated by the beauty of the landscape, which he first viewed in a photograph. Even so, he added, “the potential of this district is immense.” “It’s so easy to just think that all this stuff just sort of exists,” said Craig, who works for Ambler Metals, the joint venture of two companies that want to mine the site and others nearby for copper, zinc and lead. “But it comes from somewhere.” Biden administration officials have concluded that “somewhere” has to include places in the United States – not just mines in friendly foreign countries – and that the urgency is building. At the same time, Biden also has set a goal of conserving at least 30 percent of the nation’s land and waters by 2030. And industry advocates say such policies keep permits for new mines held up for years. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, the state’s publicly owned development corporation, filed for federal permits to build the road in 2015. It got them under the Trump administration five years later, only for the Biden administration to suspend that approval in 2022 to seek additional environmental analysis. That has frustrated Alaska’s threemember congressional delegation, which said that “the continued failure” to develop minerals will be a setback for the country’s energy transition and supply chains. Administration officials have yet to back the Ambler Road, and they have declined to say what they intend to do. Brenda Mallory, who chairs the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said in an interview that the administration supports domestic mining development. “That doesn’t mean that every project is going to be the right project,” she said. “We think the important point is that we have to make sure that it’s occurring in the right places, that there are some places that are too special to actually conduct mining in. But there are many other places that are not.” This friction goes back to the earliest days of Biden’s presidency. In addition to his conservation promises, Fall foliage contrasts with the landscape in an aerial view of Alaskan wilderness in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area in September 2022. Below: A moose drinks from a small pond outside of the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Bottom left: The Brooks Range. Bottom right: A view of the Long Lake in Gates of the Arctic National Park.

26 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25 INSIGHT COVER STORY he pledged to give more weight to the rights and health of low-income, minority and tribal communities near mining sites or affected by their pollution. In Alaska, Native groups are divided about the Ambler Road proposal. Some are eager for employment opportunities that could come from the mines – and the potential lower cost of goods and services if a road were constructed. “Things are changing anyways,” said Fred Sun, an Ambler Metals worker and the tribal president of Shungnak, a Native village close to the potential mining operation. “We don’t want to get left behind.” Under a 1971 law, regional for-profit corporations owned by Native shareholders control millions of acres of land in Alaska. NANA, the regional corporation whose territory includes the Ambler Mining District, has partnered with Ambler Metals on the exploratory drilling here. If the mines are built, the region’s 15,000 Iñupiat shareholders could get a portion of any profits through the corporation’s annual dividends. Other Alaska Natives fear the potential impact on wildlife essential to their culture, and they have filed a lawsuit to stop the road. They and others say the project will disrupt the migration path for one of the world’s largest caribou herds and pollute waterways crucial to salmon and sheefish, key to the subsistence diet for several local tribes. There are thick forests of white spruce and aspen here; soggy tundra of moss and lichen; and an uncounted number of lakes, rivers and streams that form a watery labyrinth as seen from the air. “We’re expecting the worst-case scenario of what you can do to this last great roadless area in America,” said Frank Thompson, the tribal president of Evansville, a Native village near the eastern end of the road’s proposed path. “There’s been people living and walking through this land for generations, thousands of years.” As proposed, the two-lane and 32-foot-wide gravel road would need nearly 50 bridges over wide waterways and nearly 3,000 culverts for smaller water crossings. It would also need accompanying material sites, maintenance camps, airstrips and guard stations. Fighting the Ambler Road is now one of the top priorities for the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy group. “It does seem as though mining companies are claiming that every mine they propose is necessary and needed for the clean energy revolution. And that’s simply not true,” said Alex Johnson, the group’s Alaska senior program manager, who noted that copper is not on the official federal list of critical minerals. “There are places that remain too precious, too connected, too wild, too important for tribes and people who live in that landscape to be mined.” Alaskan projects often bring the most intense scrutiny. The state is home to some of the country’s last intact and undisturbed natural habitats, providing refuge to migratory birds, Top: The village of Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska. Center left: A worker enters a tent at the Bornite Mining Camp in the Ambler Mining District. Center right: Robert Barr carries core samples he recently cut at Ambler Metals. Bottom Left: A collection of mineral samples outside a tent at the Bornite Mining Camp. Bottom right: Solomon Yatlin stands near the sacred site of Eagle Rock in Bettles, Alaska. Yatlin, an Alaskan Athabascan, is concerned that the Ambler Access Road will damage the environment and wildlife migrations. The Alatna River winds through a valley in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 27 INSIGHT COVER STORY polar bears and walruses, and full of sensitive lakes and marshes connected by an underground web of freshwater. The administration is still facing intense political blowback from young activists over its March decision to permit a huge oil drilling project, Willow, on the state’s North Slope. And opposition to new mines extends far beyond Alaska, leaving many wondering where and how the Biden administration can achieve its goal of securing a reliable U.S. supply. U.S. automakers and other major industries are scouring the world for minerals, and they are often finding stiff competition from Chinese rivals, or suppliers that endanger local communities or their workers. Fierce geopolitical friction with China and Russia further raises the pressure to fulfill demand from sources at home. A draft of the Energy Department’s annual assessment of critical minerals, released in May, concludes that about half a dozen critical minerals, including nickel and cobalt, already face major supply challenges. Twice as many could face major risks in the next dozen years, with lithium, platinum and magnesium joining the list. And the pressure on demand could grow even larger. To meet the 2015 Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, the world would need to increase mineral demand as much as fourfold in the next 20 years, according to the estimates from the International Energy Agency. Congress also has required that, to be eligible for tax breaks, clean technology must use content from the United States or its trade partners, boosting demand for metals from the United States or close allies. Mallory and other senior administration officials say that they are pushing Congress to update the nation’s 150-year-old mining law to boost domestic mining, and that government research shows incomplete permit applications, staff shortages and afterthe-fact changes in permit requests are the biggest sources of delays. Delays aren’t a challenge only in the United States. People in France are preemptively organizing to keep mining from lithium under a nature reserve. Sweden recently found Europe’s largest deposit of so-called rare-earth minerals, but the region’s Sami Indigenous population says it threatens their culture of traditional reindeer herding. “It’s a global problem,” said Nick Pickens, who oversees global mining research at the consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. “We want this stuff, but nobody is prepared to do the hard yards.” But those who have a stake in preserving wildlands reject that reasoning. “The argument that we can mine our way to a greener future is crazy to me,” said John Gaedeke, a Brooks Range wilderness guide whose livelihood is tied to the great outdoors and unblemished mountains and streams. He added: “Every day there isn’t a road out there, I feel more hopeful.” Northern lights animate the night sky in Bettles, Alaska. A notice at Long Lake in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Though primarily wilderness, the park has some privately owned land.

28 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ INSIGHT EDITORIAL During the coronavirus crisis, our Pelican Plaza office is closed to visitors. We appreciate your understanding. By David Ignatius Of all the potential threats that China poses to the United States, the most worrisome for me is future domination of space. Quietly but persistently, the Chinese are developing an arsenal of weapons to challenge America – the nation that landed the first man on the moon – for preeminence in this domain. The idea that the heavens are becoming a zone of potential conflict is abhorrent. Unfortunately, there is abundant evidence of aggressive Chinese military moves on this frontier. The Chinese tested the first anti-satellite weapon in 2007, which left a field of thousands of pieces of debris that still endanger other satellites. Since then, they have tested satellites that can snatch other craft and carry them to a distant orbit known as the “graveyard zone.” They have flown spaceplanes that can also capture objects in orbit and have talked of building bases on the moon. Their researchers have described ways to use satellites to conduct cyberattacks in space. The point is: Beijing recognizes that space is the ultimate “high ground” and wants to control it. The United States, the space pioneer, was slow to recognize China’s ambitions. When the moonshots ended and the Space Shuttle was retired, the United States seemed to lose interest. The Air Force was responsible for military aspects of space, but its attention was closer to Earth, and it didn’t react adequately to China’s rapid moves. President Donald Trump created a new branch of the military, the Space Force, to respond to the challenge, and it was one of the solid decisions of his presidency. I had a chance to discuss space issues last week with four of the leading American experts: Gen. James H. Dickinson, head of U.S. Space Command; John F. Plumb, assistant secretary of defense for space policy; Ezinne Uzo-Okoro, assistant director for space policy in the Office of Science and Technology Policy; and Salvatore “Tory” Bruno, chief executive of the rocket-building company United Launch Alliance. They were all speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, which I moderated. The first takeaway from these conversations is that they recognize that, in space, China is the “pacing threat,” as the new buzz phrase describes it. If you want a quick summary of China’s remarkable space array, check out the latest “Space Threat Assessment” published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which is the best collection of opensource reports. A second theme is that the United States’ response to China’s bid for dominance will be a mix of government systems and commercial satellite arrays being developed by SpaceX’s Starlink, Maxar and many dozens of other “New Space” companies that are building what amount to commercial communications and surveillance networks in low-Earth orbit. The Pentagon is partnering with more than 130 of these companies, Plumb said. China can’t match this explosion of private entrepreneurial effort. In November, the Pentagon published a detailed “space strategic review” discussing the Chinese threat and what to do about it. Unfortunately, it’s classified. At Aspen, neither Plumb nor Dickinson, the head of Space Command, shed any new light on U.S. plans. I wish these officials would heed the 2021 advice of Gen. John Hyten, at the time vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Deterrence does not happen in the classified world.” The closest any Pentagon official has come to confirming that the United States is building weapons to deter China in space was Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s comment in March explaining his plans to spend money for “offensive capabilities” in fiscal 2024: “There are hard kill and soft kill capabilities, if you will, that we’re funding. But I’m not sure I can go very far beyond that.” The Chinese appear to be preparing for a kind of cyberwar in space that would jam or disable satellites. That was the gist of Pentagon documents allegedly leaked by Airman Jack Teixeira. One document said China could use cyberattacks “to seize control of a satellite, rendering it ineffective to support communications, weapons, or intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems.” Chinese journalists have reported some of Beijing’s cyber plans. A researcher at a People’s Liberation Army-supported think tank published a study arguing that “a combination of soft and hard kill methods should be adopted to make some of Starlink’s satellites lose their functions and destroy the constellation’s operating system,” according to a May 25, 2022, article in the South China Morning Post. China could use “high-power microwave weapons” against the Starlink satellites, argued a March 30 article by that paper’s Beijing correspondent. As thousands of satellites maneuver in this newly contested domain, there’s an obvious need to establish norms and standards of conduct. I asked UzoOkoro from the White House whether there had been any discussion with China about such rules of the road. “Not particularly,” she said. That has to change. Otherwise, the United States could find itself surrendering its once-formidable lead on the final frontier. A version of this column first appeared in The Washington Post. It does not necessarily reflect the views of Vero Beach 32963. CHINA IS SERIOUS ABOUT WINNING THE NEW SPACE RACE

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 29 INSIGHT OP-ED Why did Airbnb ban Solange Reyner? The company won't tell her. But will it tell this consumer advocate? Will it reinstate her? QUESTION: I recently received an email from Airbnb that it had removed my account from the platform. "Removal means that your account will no longer be accessible, and you won't be able to create another one," it said. "We want to assure you that we reviewed your case thoroughly before reaching this conclusion. As such, we won't be able to offer you additional support on this matter at this time." I don't understand why I'm banned. I last booked with Airbnb in September for my husband and his friend in Las Vegas. Airbnb canceled the first booking for that trip because the host said she was no longer accepting guests. Airbnb found me another accommodation at a hotel, and after two days of staying there, my husband realized the listing wasn't legitimate (someone had booked the hotel rooms months before then and posted them on Airbnb as rentals). I don't see why I would get banned for that. Airbnb has deactivated my account for no good reason. Can you help? ANSWER: You should not get banned for any of this. Your host canceled your booking at the last minute, and another host had an illegitimate listing, neither of which was your fault. So what's going on here? Lately, many Airbnb bannings I've come across have happened because a background check turned up a criminal record. But you say neither you, nor your husband, nor his friend have any criminal record – so we can cross that off the list. In its Terms of Service, Airbnb says it may terminate your account for violating its terms or policies, violating applicable laws, or if "we reasonably believe termination is necessary to protect Airbnb, its members, or third parties." The two cancellations were a red flag of something happening during that Las Vegas rental – although I don't know what. When you rent a home or apartment through Airbnb, always look for a property with a positive rating and read the reviews carefully. I was just shopping for an Airbnb in Christchurch, New Zealand, and one of the reviews warned that the host had canceled at the last minute. If you see that, you might want to skip that property. And I am certain that the illegal rental you got in Vegas had no reviews – that's also a problem. Whatever happened to your husband and friend, it sounds like an innocent mistake on their part. You can always reach out to one of the Airbnb executive contacts I publish on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. I asked Airbnb about your account termination. In response, the company reactivated your account. I asked the company what you had done to deserve being blacklisted, and a representative said, "For privacy reasons, we are not able to share more than that at this point." Airbnb didn't tell you why you were banned, either. But at least you have your account back. Get help with any consumer problem by contacting Christopher Elliott at http://www.elliott.org/help. BY CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT I've been banned by Airbnb, and no one will tell me why.

30 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ A Czech diplomat once introduced me to a colleague. I told the colleague that it was a pleasure to meet him and that I covered U.S. foreign affairs with a focus on Russia and Eastern Europe. “And Central Europe,” the first Czech diplomat smilingly but firmly cut in. His point was clear: He and his colleague were not to be considered – by me or themselves or anyone else – Eastern European. I thought of this while reading the prologue of “Goodbye, Eastern Europe: An Intimate History of a Divided Land,” a new history by Jacob Mikanowski, which shares the first part of its title with a gorgeous essay the author wrote for the Los Angeles Review of Books in 2017. “This is a history of a place that doesn’t exist,” Mikanowski asserts at the start of the book. “There is no such thing as Eastern Europe anymore. No one comes from there.” The term “is an outsider’s convenience, a catchall used to conceal a nest of stereotypes.” No country once associated with the place wants the label. “Even before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland all declared themselves part of Central Europe” (my apologies again to my Czech diplomat friend). The Baltic states want to be thought of as part of the Nordic zone. And so on. Why wouldn’t they, when “Eastern European” is used to connote backward, or stuck in the past, shrouded in some kind of undesirable gray? The idea permeates not just politics but popular culture. “Dear sweet mother of God. We’re in Eastern Europe,” one character says with dread in the 2004 movie “EuroTrip.” He and his friends proceed to walk down a dreary street. The camera cuts to a dog holding a human hand in its mouth. “With this many defections, Eastern Europe is pretty much a dead letter. And yet not too long ago its existence was self-evident,” Mikanowski writes, recalling arriving in Warsaw in 1986 to the smell of “brown coal burning in winter.” Mikanowski’s undertaking is a massive one: He’s set out to tell the history of a part of the world over thousands of years – Chapter 1 begins in 170 AD – in just a few hundred pages. He does not approach this task chronologically, but thematically. The book is divided into three sections: faiths; empires and peoples; and the 20th century. While this approach can be disorienting at first, it proves effective, letting the reader take in all that the region’s history has to offer, skipping lightly between large subjects, moving from glittering capitals to tiny towns. The final section, on the more recent past, proceeds more chronologically, though the chapters are still thematic; the 21st century is left for the epilogue. While the amount and specificity of detail could, in the hands of another writer, make the book too academic for a general audience, Mikanowski sprinkles in color and humor. “But where did Slavs come from? This question vexes historians, since it has no solution but many competing claims.” Mikanowski offers some of these claims and then adds, “I used to imagine them emerging out of a bog wearing great leather waders, with water dripping down their mustaches, ready to conquer Thessaloniki as soon as they toweled off.” The chapter on “Heretics” is especially colorful, sparkling with the magic its subjects claim to have performed. And though the book is not a memoir, Mikanowski mixes in his own family story to moving effect. “For centuries, shtetl life was everywhere. And then all at once, it was gone for good.” It’s a powerful line, but still more powerful is that it’s followed with the admission that his grandfather was from one such vanished shtetl and that, growing up, he did not even know his grandfather’s real name. If there is a weak point of this book, it is its framing device. Eastern Europe was inherently different from its Western counterpart, Mikanowski announces early on, and its distinguishing quality was its diversity, especially of faith. Different people lived together in a way they didn’t in much else of the world. The book closes with this, too: Eastern Europe was once “characterized by endless diversity. … Here, many peoples and faiths and languages lived together, arranging themselves in a loose symbiosis, whose bonds were nonetheless strong enough to last for centuries.” The trouble with this argument is not that it is untrue, per se, though there are moments in the book that seem to cut against it, and others when the meaning of “coexistence” seems to shift shape. We learn, for example, that the separation of Jews and Christians was enshrined by law, with Christian conversion to Judaism punishable by death before the 19th century. Elsewhere Mikanowski writes, “Eastern Europe is a powder keg, a nest of assassins, a tangle of murderous animosities.” No, the larger issue is that one could just as easily argue that diversity makes Western Europe distinct, too: One could write that what makes Germany or Italy unique, for example, is that they are nations that came about by mashing different groups together, or that France was forged through a contest of ideas. The same central concept – that what is special about the place is the mix of types of people – is also found in books about the United States and books about India. Their authors probably do not mean “diversity” or “different people living together” in quite the way Mikanowski does, of course. But diversity is a slippery concept, which makes it hard to accept as the singular, defining, inherent quality of one particular region. The idea that it is the singular quality, or that there is any singular quality, is also, I think, undermined by the rest of this otherwise impressive book, which one cannot read without understanding that there is nevertheless something special about the place that was once called Eastern Europe. Try to name that special quality and it turns to ash in your mouth. But try, this book seems to say, to hold onto it anyway, even if it’s both in your grasp and slipping away. INSIGHT BOOKS GOODBYE, EASTERN EUROPE An Intimate History of a Divided Land By Jacob Mikanowski | Pantheon. 376 pp. $30 Review by Emily Tamkin | The Washington Post

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 31 Taking potluck from the boards By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist This morning, while wondering what to write about, I selected the top board from a set sitting in a bookcase. I decided that we could take potluck. When I saw that all of the cards were in runs, I knew it was a teaching deal. It is quicker to preduplicate hands in which the cards are sequential. (I don’t own a dealing machine, and if I did, it would not talk to my software.) What is the point of this deal? A few players would upgrade the South hand to a one-no-trump opening. However, you should always try to show a five-card major. Here, also, you have a weak doubleton in hearts. North makes a game-invitational limit raise promising four or more spades, 10-12 support points and eight losers – textbook. South nudges on to game. West leads the heart queen. How does that help South? West continues with the heart eight, East winning with the king and shifting to the diamond six. What happens next? South has three top red-suit losers, so he must find the club queen to make his contract. After winning the third trick, declarer should draw trumps and play a diamond himself – a discovery play. East takes that trick and returns his last diamond. Who has the club queen? The opening lead placed the heart ace and king with East. He has also shown up with the diamond ace. Therefore, he cannot have the club queen. If he did, he would have 13 points and would have opened the bidding. Keep track of the high-card points. Dealer: East; Vulnerable: North-South NORTH K 8 7 6 5 4 Q J 10 A 9 8 7 WEST 2 Q J 10 9 8 5 4 3 2 Q 6 5 SOUTH A Q J 10 9 3 2 K 9 8 K J 10 EAST 5 4 3 A K 7 6 A 7 6 4 3 2 The Bidding: OPENING LEAD: Q Hearts SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST Pass 1 Spades Pass 3 Spades Pass 4 Spades Pass Pass Pass INSIGHT BRIDGE Jack Harty & Kevin Hughes 772-532-2915 855 US1 Vero Beach FL 32960 DirectSalesVeroBeach.com Personal and commercial financing available Family owned and operated since 2001 2021 Black Ford Explorer 2023 Chevrolet Corvette 2dr Stingray Coupe 2005 Mercedes Benz E-Class 2019 Toyota 4Runner Limited Nightshade 4WD 2006 Porsche Boxter 2dr Roadster 2011 Mercedes Benz GLK Class $89,590 5 Mi $36,500 32K Mi $43,590 25K Mi $15,790 34K Mi $18,590 29K Mi $21,790 56,720 Mi

32 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ The Telegraph How to do Sudoku: Fill in the grid so the numbers one through nine appear just once in every column, row and three-by-three square. The Telegraph SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (JULY 20) ON PAGE 58 ACROSS 1. Scottish river (3) 3. Automobile (3) 5. Large branch (5) 8. Common (5) 9. Thin (7) 10. Swine (4) 11. Keep (8) 13. Allow (6) 14. Young child (6) 17. Confessed (8) 19. Present (4) 22. Walkouts (7) 23. Rips (5) 24. Paces (5) 25. Timid (3) 26. Secret agent (3) DOWN 1. Punch (5) 2. More youthful (7) 3. Ring (4) 4. Place for holidaymakers (6) 5. Benediction (8) 6. Below (5) 7. Most tough (7) 12. Errors (8) 13. Worships (7) 15. Creatures (7) 16. Banquets (6) 18. Coalesce (5) 20. Flavoursome (5) 21. Remain (4) INSIGHT GAMES

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 33 ACROSS 1 Levels a split-level 6 Turkish titles 10 Actress Plummer 16 CEO’s degree 19 Movie-ticket category 20 Berth place 21 Wooden shoes 22 Apr. addressee 23 Bar that holds up a merry-go-round horse? 25 Has a degree in rabbitology? 27 Bird in the bush 28 Character 30 Actress Claire 31 Armor harmer 32 Kayak kin 33 Song about a guy who’s a lousy jouster? 37 North Dakota city 40 It needs a lic. 42 Mr. Parseghian 43 Like wet cement 44 Teen follower? 45 Utah lilies 47 Have a dream 50 Like a well-kept lawn? 53 QU insert 54 High living?:abbr. 58 N.Y. prison 59 Biological mouths 60 Serpent’s hangout? 62 Bag, to Hefty 63 Certain pourer 64 Bus. calculator? 65 Soccer nation 66 Turn this way 69 Broom-handle thumps aimed at the loud guy upstairs? 73 Reed you read 74 Sohar resident 76 Wit prelude 77 Ocean shout 78 Super power, perhaps 80 Working title of Dorothy Meets the Blob? 82 Jersey comment 83 “A specter is haunting ___” (Engels) 87 Distort 88 In reverse 89 What happened at the southern ladies’ strip-poker party? 92 Dig discovery 94 Luxury carmaker 95 Archibald in Hollywood 96 Over 99 Very, in Veracruz 101 The, in Thuringia 102 Drain sites 103 What the “honkless” driver needed? 107 Agriculture goddess 109 Spigoted servers 110 Vacancies: abbr. 111 Led astray 113 Name for a goldfish? 116 What even the loudest critics of a certain president would not consider? 120 Store that caters to ballet companies? 122 Greenkeeper’s find 123 Cheated, in a way 124 Film warrior played by Miles O’Keeffe 125 Sensuous dance 126 Old republic letters 127 Does a yard job 128 Phoenician city 129 Encourage DOWN 1 “It’s all the ___” 2 Ponderosa name 3 Natal native 4 Old English measure 5 ___ nothing (barge ahead) 6 Passed 7 0 8 Singer about Alice 9 Note taker 10 Speak up, in a way 11 Some envelopes 12 Dry as ___ 13 “Forget it, pal!” 14 Sot’s woe 15 Tough wood 16 Desert image 17 Weill lyricist 18 Stamina, e.g. 24 “Big house” 26 Author Kingsley 29 “Interesting!” 32 Emlyn Williams play, The ___ Green 34 Algerian city 35 Russell and Waldheim 36 Way to go: abbr. 37 Doll’s word 38 “___ it!” (fielder’s cry) 39 Small salamander 41 Pianist Vladimir 45 Krait or mamba 46 Philosopher Kierkegaard 48 Gas-pump verb 49 Rebecca’s guy 51 Decorative shrub 52 Military exercise 54 Bonsai, for one 55 Ex-host Jack 56 Scrabble need 57 River of no return 60 Trained 61 Sneeze catcher 63 George et al. 66 Where Doloreses can see lorises 67 Start of a 1970s self-help book 68 Svengali’s look 70 Arabian Sea feeder 71 “___ Stop the Rain” 72 Stays fresh 75 Just released 79 Terse summary 81 0 people 84 The Good Earth wife 85 Added benefit 86 Breyer’s rival 89 Hazy image 90 Will figure 91 Elixir, so they say 92 Evergreen 93 Rare remark from Annie Oakley 96 Eagles’ nests 97 One born after 1965, for short 98 Lhasa ___ 100 No alternative 102 Calm 103 Squeeze plays 104 Gets ready 105 Centesis lead-in 106 Coup ___ 108 Graycoat 112 It calls 113 Circle of friends 114 Shakespearean troublemaker 115 Mr. Hubbard 117 ATM maker 118 Forest female 119 Paper peo. 121 Turn the other way The Telegraph The Washington Post ...Double the difference Stereo Homophones By Merl Reagle INSIGHT GAMES Established 32 Years in Indian River County (772) 562-2288 | www.kitchensvero.com 3920 US Hwy 1, Vero Beach FL 32960

34 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ INSIGHT BACK PAGE Dear Carolyn: I have been married six years and always had an extremely bad relationship with my mother-in-law. She never approved of me, called me names while pretending to “advise me,” and criticized my job, my family, everything. She wore headto-toe black to our wedding and said in her toast that I looked “surprisingly nice, considering.” It got so bad in our first year of marriage that I refused to be around her, and my husband backed me up. She got a little better after our son, “Kent,” was born three years ago, and I now maintain a low-contact relationship with her. My one boundary is that I don’t allow my mother-in-law to be with Kent alone – not until he’s at least 6 or 7. My husband can take him over there and spend the day, that’s fine. But I don’t trust what she might say to Kent about me if they were alone. This boundary is starting to cause friction: Kent frequently spends the night at my parents’ house, but they love my husband and would never do anything to harm our son’s view of him. My husband is asking me to “forgive” his mother and start fresh. This isn’t about forgiveness. I’m not holding a grudge or trying to punish her, and I don’t really care about her at all. I just can’t stand the thought of what she would say to our son if she had him alone. When he’s older and not so impressionable, she can be alone with him. Am I being unreasonable? – Distrustful Distrustful: No. Not even a little bit. I agree this isn’t about forgiveness. This is about trust, and Kent’s emotional health. Given her behavior, you can’t trust your mother-in-law not to bad-mouth you to your kid. (Arguably she could do more damage by trash-talking you to a 6- or 7-year-old than she could to a toddler. Not to lob grenades into a cease-fire or anything.) So, the issue you and your husband need to deal with is this: Has your mother-in-law shown sufficient shame, remorse and personal growth to warrant increasing her access to your family? This has nothing to do with equal grandparent time. Kent could spend every weekend with your parents, and if your mother-in-law is still engaging in spite theatrics, then she is [stuff] outta luck. And that’s on her, not you, for behaving abominably. I am glad your husband backed you up early. That was the right thing to do. But he doesn’t get to ease up just because his mother is wearing him down or self-censoring to gain an advantage. He can be less vigilant when his mother has felt and expressed remorse – or at least relaxed her campaign to erase you – to your satisfaction. Really, she’s lucky you agree to let Kent breathe her vicious air. That is some serious grace. Re: Kent: As someone with grandmothers – yes, plural – who delighted in saying awful things about my parents and other relatives, I will say that you see them for who they are pretty quickly. It was complicated, but I still loved my grandmothers for how much they loved me, even as I was angry about how they treated my parents. I’m glad I was able to have a relationship with them even though it was quite hard on my parents at times. – Anonymous Anonymous: I find myself wondering whether you brought emotional sophistication to your family’s party or left the party with it. Either way, I appreciate your nuanced take. BY CAROLYN HAX Washington Post Critical mother-in-law barred from seeing grandson alone

‘SO MANY THINGS I WANT TO DO’ RETIREE BRINGS HER CREATIVE IDEAS TO LIFE

ARTS & THEATRE 38 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Grace Cormier produces works in a variety of artistic mediums, moving from one category to another without skipping a beat. Her repertoire ranges from paintings and sculpture to textile fiber art, jewelry and mixed media; each artform creatively conceived and equally well executed. Cormier says that while she first began creating art as a little girl, that pursuit was put on pause when work consumed the majority of her time. “But when I retired five years ago, my mind exploded with all of my ideas of what I always wanted to do, but I hadn’t had time. It’s not new ideas that I am experimenting with, it’s all the ideas I already had, and they finally have the time to come alive,” says Cormier. “There are still so many things I want to do.” Born and raised in Poland until age 18, Cormier was adopted by her aunt in the U.S., and came to Florida in 1972, where her green card was waiting. She entered high school in Miami as a senior, despite not speaking a word of English. She earned a degree in business administration from Miami Dade College and also studied at Allstate Construction College and Sheffield School of Interior Design, obtaining a general contractor license and an interior design license. Utilizing those skills, Cormier owned and operated a construction firm and worked as an interior design consultant. After spending many years living on Long Island in New York and in New Brunswick, Canada, she longed for BY DEBBIE TIMMERMANN CORRESPONDENT Retiree hard at work bringing her creative ideas to life Grace Cormier. PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS

ARTS & THEATRE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 39 home, which, to her, was Florida. She returned in 2017 and continued working until she was able to retire, whereupon she could devote all her time to art. “In most of my paintings, sculptures, textile fiber art and jewelry I use recycled silks, plant-dyed fabrics, repurposed vintage rusted drills or nails for unique patina dyeing, copper, brass, bamboo sheath, and gemstones from around the world,” says Cormier. She notes that 99.9 percent of the fabrics she uses for textile artworks are recycled. “I buy used clothing, linen and silk, all natural fibers, all hand dyed. I start with a single piece of fabric, and it builds from there.” Cormier explains that she concentrates on the balance of color, shape and texture, working spontaneously while letting the piece come into being. “Each piece is created with the desire to express the beauty in its simplicity and appreciation for imperfection of our nature.” Cormier has recently begun creating textile pieces based on the Japanese aesthetics philosophy of WabiSabi, which she says incorporates “rustic elegance, impermanence and imperfect simplistic beauty,” and Boro, based on the Japanese technique of mending or patching together old fabrics. The results are unique artworks made from recycled natural fabrics, such as linen, silk and wool, hand sewn in a pleasing and balanced fashion. Cormier says she begins by pinning fabric pieces onto a solid backing, moving the pinned pieces around until the desired design is formed. Her fiber art, she says, is not supposed to be functional; it is just something to look at. An example is “Blue Heron,” a textile artwork of linen and silk. In it, a drawing of the heron is the main focus, to which she added five hand-cut layers of fabric, sewn to the backing in a layered design around the bird. She says this particular piece was very time consuming, taking more than 70 hours to complete. Her textile art piece “Wabi Sabi Red #2,” hand-dyed flax linen stitched onto canvas, is currently on display at the Vero Beach Museum of Art in the juried exhibition, Treasure Coast Creates: A Tribute to Local Artists. And a painting created for a Gallery 14 show last year combined colors and texture into a dimensional acrylic abstraction of the Ukrainian flag. She named it “Love and Peace,” as opposed to Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” Cormier also created a unique textile sculpture, “Runway Fashion,” using a base of chicken wire layered with recycled and repurposed elements to fashion a ‘dress’ with a bust and skirt that featured a decorative belt from a belly dancer’s costume, beads, ribbon, feathers, jewelry and vintage trinkets. That sculpture earned Third Place in the state-wide 100% Pure Florida Show at the 5th Avenue Gallery in Melbourne. Another piece, “Lightning Thunder,” a mixed-media abstract of acrylic, ink and textured glaze, won First Place in the Life on Our Lagoon art show at the Eau Gallery in Melbourne to benefit the Marine Resources Council. A women’s face is visible in the central portion of the painting, which Cormier says gives it a spiritual connection, as she hadn’t painted the face intentionally. Another sculpture, “Golden Bowl,” was one of only 50 selected out of 1,300 entries to be featured in the July 2023 edition of “Fiber Art Now” magazine. That unusual work was made from crushed paper, palm frond, a tree branch and vintage wire, and the paper mâché bowl was then painted with layers of acrylic to give it a metallic patina. Cormier uses a variety of objects to incorporate in her jewelry pieces, such as natural gemstones, brass beads from Africa and Tibet, Baltic amber from Poland, vintage tribal jewelry from India, and amulets, thought to have positive energy. “When I see something, I buy it and just hold onto it until I need it. I am a collector of natural beads and other objects, and when I make jewelry, I draw from that. I search all over the world for these, for my art,” she says. Cormier is a member of the Vero Beach Art Club and Sebastian River Art Club. She exhibits her work at the SRAC Gallery and annual SRAC Art Show, the VBAC Gallery, the Eau Gallery in Melbourne, the annual Indian River Bird and Nature Show, and the Environmental Learning Center, where she will have a solo show next May. She also teaches classes at SRAC in textile art and jewelry making.

ARTS & THEATRE 40 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Take the family to something wonderful. It’s the Tour de Turtles Loggerhead Turtle release. It begins 8:30 a.m. Sunday, July 30, at the Barrier Island Center, Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, 8385 S. Highway A1A in Melbourne Beach. This is the 16th annual Tour de Turtles. The live release is also happening in Costa Rica, Panama and Nevis, a small Caribbean island. The event is hosted by the Sea Turtle Conservancy. For more information, visit TourDeTurtles.org. The Pareidolia Brewing Company’s annual “Open Golf Scramble” runs 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 29, at the Sandridge Golf Club, 5300 73rd St., Vero Beach. The cost to participate is $75 per player, with proceeds benefiting the Florida Elks Children’s Therapy Services. To register, email pareidoliacharitygolf@ gmail.com. Be sure to drop checks off at the brewery before Friday, July 28. The Pareidolia Brewing Company is at 712 Cleveland St., Sebastian. The brewery has regular events throughout the week and month. On Friday, July 28, it presents Eduardo Music from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. For more information, visit PareidoliaBrewing. com or call 772-571-5693. The Birthday Par-Tee begins 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 2, at Big Shots Golf. Admission is $60, and includes two hours of golf, appetizers, soft drinks, cash bar and birthday cake. Or, you can pay $35 to just attend the party and forgo playing golf. Proceeds benefit the Mental Health Association of Indian River County. For more information, call 772-569- 9788 x 122 or email mhairc.org. Filthy’s Fine Cockails and Beer presents a couple music events this weekend. First is the Joey Tenuto Band, which performs 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, July 29. Then, the Swamp Dawgs perform 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 29. Filthy’s Fine Cocktails and Beer is at 1238 10th St., Vero Beach. Call 772-794- 9512 or visit DrinkAtFilthys.com. The Environmental Learning Center will present a STEAM next week. The program explores where technology, engineering and the environment intersect. It asks if a student is ready to explore the Indian River Lagoon, build a robot or fly a drone. The free program runs 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1, to Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Environmental Learning Center, 255 Live Oak Dr., Vero Beach. It is open to middle and high school students of Indian River County who meet certain qualifications. Admission is free. The program is supported by Children Services Advisory Committee. To register, visit DiscoverELC.org. Riverside Theatre’s Comedy Zone presents headliner William Sloan and feature act Trish Keating this weekend. Sloan, a North Carolina native, comes from a family of comedians. He’s worked with Cedric the Entertainer, Wanda Sykes, Jake Johanssen, Michael Winslow and many more. Keating explores social satire and mines a lot of fodder from her Catholic school upbringing. She’s worked with Wanda Sykes, Jay Mohr, Judy Tenuta and more. She’s done some television and likes to joke that she was “basically paid to stalk George Clooney” on “Ocean’s 11.” Comedian Josh Armenteros emcees. Shows start at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Friday, July 28, and Saturday, July 29. All seats are $25. As long as you’re heading to the Comedy Zone, be sure to make time to take advantage of the free Live in the Loop concerts. Johnny Nick’s Beachland Band performs Friday. They are a variety tribute band specializing in music from The Beach Boys. On Saturday, The Lattitudes perform. That group combines rock, reggae, funk and country music. And of course, there are plenty of food and drink options to purchase. Riverside Theatre is at 3250 Riverside Park Dr., Vero Beach. For more information, call 772-231-6990 or visit RiversideTheatre.com. 3 2 At loggerheads over Sunday plans? Try Tour de Turtles 1 BY PAM HARBAUGH Correspondent COMING UP! 4 5 6 7

GAME CHANGERS Health coaches gain in popularity, influence

HEALTH 42 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Do you think health coaches are just for the rich and famous? According to Forbes Magazine, the new focus on health and wellness that is partly a consequence of the pandemic has people of all ages, genders and socioeconomic levels flocking to these experts. Harvard Medical School says that people tend to hire health coaches to help them with a broad variety of issues, including the management of chronic health conditions, adjusting to a life-altering health events such as a heart attack, weight loss, stress reduction and quitting tobacco. Toni Armbruster, MS, NBC-HWC, a board-certified health coach who practices in Vero Beach, loves to help people get their lives on track. Whether it’s starting on a healthier diet or learning how to handle stress, the first thing she asks prospective clients is, “What are you trying to gain? Do you need someone to help you set goals?” A major part of her practice is helping people with conditions such as diabetes or elevated cholesterol make lifestyle changes aimed at improving their health. The NBHWC (National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching) states that health coaches work in various settings – some on healthcare teams alongside physicians and other health professionals as part of an integrative approach to client care, others in digital health, providing online coaching. Some work in communitybased programs while others have entrepreneurial operations. Armbruster took 40 hours of training with a qualified health coach while pursuing certification. She had to demonstrate her coaching skill by coaching the coach. She then applied for – and received – board-certification from NBHWC in 2021. She must complete 36 hours of additional certification training every three years. “The industry is working towards strengthening the relationship between doctors and certified health coaches,” Armbruster says. “A billing/ coding system is being developed so that doctors can refer patients to us for certifiable lifestyle changes.” The National Society of Health Coaches says that the job outlook for health coaches in 2023 and beyond is positive. The industry is expected to grow at a rate of 6.7 percent annually through 2030, reaching an expected worth of nearly $20 billion by 2026, $23 billion by 2028 and $26 billion by 2030. Titles of practitioners in the booming field can be confusing and have lots of gray areas, warns Armbruster. “You need to be cautious when choosing someone with whom to work,” she adds. There are people who call themselves health coaches who haven’t had much training in the field and other people who don’t call themselves health coaches who have great credentials and are more than capable of helping you get on the path to wellness. Registered and licensed dieticians have years of high-level education in their field and have passed rigorous qualifying exams and certifications on the way to their designations. Although they technically aren’t health coaches, they have the background, education and skills to function as a health coach, expanding their advice beyond just diet. Nutritionist Alicia Cost, MS RDN LDN, is the principal of Cost Effective RD, which serves Vero Beach and the entire Treasure Coast. She is an example of a professional who is highly qualified to help her clients achieve better health through better diet, habits and lifestyle. Cost finds that more and more people are coming to her practice wanting help with medical conditions. “I use the SMART method of goal setting,” she says. “I help people understand why they do what they do.” The SMART method is a framework that helps people create a clearly defined and detailed plan for succeeding at their goals. It’s an acronym that stands for: • Specific • Measurable • Attainable • Relevant • Time-bound This method has been praised for encouraging people to write down their goals and helping them to commit to the steps necessary for success. Cost says many clients she sees are motivated to make changes after someone close to them has had a serious health problem. “If someone in the family has passed away, my clients are willing to embark on the long- and short-term goals they need for a healthier lifestyle. Losing weight, exercising – the very things that may help you avoid ever having to get on meds at all, especially cholesterol drugs. “It’s important to find a person who is an excellent listener, gives you their full attention, and takes your concerns seriously when you’re choosing someone with whom to work,” she adds. A health and wellness coach needs empathy, passion and a drive to empower others. Some might even draw on their own life journey to relate on a deeper level with their clients to create a non-judgmental environment for them. Most people want to take a more active role in their health to experience the benefits of good health but many don’t have the tools to do it. Every January first, New Year’s resolutions are made. For a few weeks, gyms are packed and salad kits fly off grocery shelves. Yet by February, more than 80 percent have abandoned our goals. Common challenges to lifestyle change include: • Lack of time. • Lack of accountability. • Lack of motivation. • Stress and mental or physical exhaustion. Most people want to do better but Game changers: Health coaches gain in popularity, influence BY JACKIE HOLFELDER Correspondent

HEALTH Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 43 most fail when they attempt to make changes. Professionals like Armbruster and Cost can help them to get where they want – and need – to be. “It’s never too late to change and adjust,” says Cost. “Sometimes even the smallest steps are enough to get us started on the right path to a healthier life.” Toni Armbruster has a master’s degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion with a concentration in Health Coaching from California University of Pennsylvania. She is a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach, Wellcoaches Certified Health and Well-being Coach, and National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer. She serves clients in Vero Beach and the Treasure Coast and is accepting new clients at balancedlifewellbeing.com. Alicia Cost, MS, RDN, LDN, received an undergraduate degree in dietetics in 1989 and a master’s degree in nutrition in 2018 from Arizona State. She completed her internship in 1990 in Oakland County, Michigan. Her practice, Cost Effective RD, serves clients in Vero Beach and the Treasure Coast and she is accepting new clients. She can be contacted at 772-242-3570 or costeffectiverd.com. Toni Armbruster,MS, NBC-HWC. PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS “The industry is working towards strengthening the relationship between doctors and certified health coaches.” - Toni Armbruster, MS, NBC-HWC

HEALTH 44 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Florida is the fastest growing state in the nation, according to new Census Bureau data, with approximately 900 people per day arriving to live here in recent years – which is making an existing shortage of doctors worse. To combat the shortage, Florida State University has opened seven satellite community-based medical school campuses around the state – including one in Fort Pierce that has already supplied the Vero Beach area with several physicians. “Florida doesn’t have enough primary care, internal and family physicians to serve the population,” said Dr. Juliette Lomax-Homier, Dean of Florida State University College of Medicine-Fort Pierce. “There’s also a shortage in our area of gynecologists, obstetricians and geriatricians. That is one reason why FSU College of Medicine, which is based in Tallahassee, has seven satellite campus throughout the state including this one on the main Satellite medical school campuses help combat doctor shortage BY KERRY FIRTH Correspondent “Florida doesn’t have enough primary care, internal and family physicians to serve the population.” -Dr. Juliette Lomax-Homier, Dean of Florida State University College of Medicine-Fort Pierce.

HEALTH Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 45 campus of Indian River State College.” The Florida State University College of Medicine provides thirdand fourth-year clinical training at regional medical schools around the state through affiliations with local physicians, ambulatory care facilities and hospitals. At the Fort Pierce regional campus, students are given the opportunity to rotate in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, obstetricsgynecology, psychiatry, geriatrics and emergency medicine. Recently, FSU College of Medicine added physician assistant students who spend one year of clinical time on the campus. “Right now, we have 37 enrolled,” said Dr. Lomax-Homier. “Seventeen of them are third-year students, nine are doing their rotations and eight are physician assistant students. We have at least 300 local doctors and physician assistants who serve as our faculty to teach our collective groups of students with clerkship directors assigned for each specialty to implement the curriculum of those particular topics for students as they rotate.” Students attend lectures on campus on Wednesday mornings, but the rest of the week they are doing hands-on clinical training in the field with area doctors. These students are examining patients, watching surgeries, learning how to deliver babies and doing pediatric examinations. “Our doctors love teaching students, and while we do provide a small stipend, many physicians donate it back to the college for student scholarships,” Dr. LomaxHomier continued. “We invite doctors in to do lectures within their specialty and they generally do this for free as a service to the medical community. None of us became physicians without the guidance of other physicians before us, so teaching our students is a way of giving back. “For the most part, patients welcome our students’ participation in their care,” Dr. Lomax-Homier said. “They understand that their physicians are teachers and that teaching physicians need to be most current in their practice because they have students who are learning from them and watching everything they do. Being a teaching physician adds to the level of service because those physicians work really hard to make sure they are up to date on all the newest procedures and technology. “Until recently, local students had to leave the area to complete their internships and residencies because there were no programs in the area. Now, there are both internal and surgical residency programs at HCA Lawnwood Hospital. HCA St. Lucie Medical Center in Port St. Lucie offers residencies in family and emergency medicine.” Many of the students at the Fort Pierce campus have ties to South Florida and choose to study there so they can go home on weekends and stay close to family. “I have students at this campus who call Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, Coral Springs, Miami and Fort Lauderdale home,” said Dr. Lomax-Homier. “I even have one student who grew up in Port St. Lucie and is living at home while pursuing his education. It seems that every year I have one or two students who have grown up in the area and they can come back home and live for two years which helps decrease the overall costs.” FSU seeks students who are mission-driven to serve the elderly, minority and underserved populations of Florida, which is why their satellite campuses are located in areas that lack the number of physicians needed to serve the community. Studying at the regional campus in Fort Pierce gives students an idea of what it is like to live in the area and the hope is they will return to practice in the community. “There are two people who have completed residencies and come back to practice in Vero Beach and a few in Martin County,” said Dr. Lomax-Homier proudly. “There’s even a pathologist who works at the local medical examiner’s office. “We are thrilled that Indian River State College opened up a part of their campus for our college,” Dr. Lomax-Homier added. “This is not an Indian River State College program but we at the FSU College of Medicine are grateful they are our landlords because of its central location and the amenities they provide for us. Our students are well cared for on their campus and proud to be part of the community.” Dr. Juliette Lomax-Homier received her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Boston City Hospital. She relocated to Fort Pierce after residency to fulfill a commitment to the Health Service Corps, where she worked as a staff obstetrician and gynecologist at a Federally Qualified Health Center in Fort Pierce. She became Dean of Florida State University College of Medicine-Fort Pierce Regional Campus in 2015. For more information about the campus visit med.fsu.edu/ftpierce.

HEALTH 46 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Dangerously hot days recently are prompting questions about when it’s too hot to exercise outdoors. The stakes are high. The consequences of a too-hot workout “range from feeling thirsty to death,” said Clare Minahan, a sports scientist at Griffith University in Australia. But figuring out when to trade that woodsy running path for the old treadmill is not as easy as glancing at a thermometer. Is there a simple rule I can follow? Everybody and every environment is different, experts caution. “There’s no magic formula,” Minahan said. “When I talk about a hard-and-fast number, the amount of gray area around that is quite enormous.” But there is some basic guidance about when you should move your workout indoors. Minahan said she would be “starting to think about” moving indoors when the temperature climbs above 86 degrees Fahrenheit. She would “really” think about it as it moves closer to 90 degrees, she added. In Australia, if the temperature hits 95 degrees, sporting events start getting canceled, said Minahan. And unless you are specifically conditioned to exercise in the heat, “at 95, I would absolutely think about doing it another time or finding an air-conditioned room to do it in,” she said. Early signs you’re getting too hot during exercise include developing a headache, feeling thirsty, general muscle weakness and even irritability, she said. If you start to feel chills, that can be an early sign of heat stroke. Be aware of humidity You also should consider your location. A hot day is likely to feel worse in humid climates. “It’s hard to breathe, almost. It feels like a pea soup,” Minahan said. When humidity is high, there’s so much moisture in the air that your sweat cannot evaporate to cool your skin. That is why it is often more comfortable to exercise in dry heat than in humid conditions. Many people “would absolutely think twice about exercising” in 86 degrees and 85 percent humidity, Minahan said, but 90 degrees at 30 percent humidity is “going to feel fine for some people.” Use a weather app Weather apps often give more information about the safety of outdoor activity. And some apps may include something called “wet-bulb” temperature, which accounts for heat and humidity together. Ollie Jay, the director of the Heat and Health Research Incubator at the University of Sydney, said the risk of working out in the heat depends on a complex set of variables, including posted temperature, actual temperature in the sun, humidity, wind, the kind of clothing or equipment a person is wearing and how acclimated they are to the heat. Jay has devised a heat tool that allows users to select their city or ZIP code and an activity such as cycling, walking or distance running to determine the level of risk over the course of the day. Type in Dallas, for instance, and you’ll be told that temperatures even late into a July evening are in the “red” zone for long-distance running, which indicates extreme risk for heat stress. Jay notes that outdoor temperatures are typically measured in shaded areas. On its own, a straight temperature reading “means not a great deal,” he said. The temperature in sunny areas may be significantly higher than you expected on the basis of the weather report, he said. Jay advises exercising HEATED ISSUE: HOW HOT IS TOO HOT TO EXERCISE OUTSIDE? BY KELSEY ABLES The Washington Post Getting acclimated to the heat, exercising in shade and listening to your body can keep you safer if you’re exercising outdoors in a heat wave.

HEALTH Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 47 in shade “because that will at least expose you to the temperature that you think you’re being exposed to.” If you can, find an area that has a breeze. “That’s going to make a big, big difference,” he says. And wear loose-fitting clothing, which will enable sweat to evaporate from the skin more efficiently. You also should consider the surface on which you are exercising, Minahan says. Asphalt and concrete retain heat. “The climate temperature might be [95] degrees,” she said, “but if you’re running on a black road, at ground level, it’s a lot hotter.” Sheri Belafsky, a physician and director of the medical surveillance program at the University of California at Davis, noted that time of day matters, too. She encourages exercisers to be “very choosy” and to select the coolest part of the day to exercise, even if it means shaking up your schedule. Get acclimated to the heat Before going for the hot workout, it is important also to think about how much you’ve previously exercised in the heat and your level of aerobic fitness, Minahan says. “If you’re reasonably fit, not carrying a lot of extra weight, you’re going to be much better off,” she said, noting that those who are in good physical shape typically start sweating earlier and are better at cooling themselves. Be patient and give your body time to acclimate to the heat. You can acclimate to steamier conditions by building up the intensity and duration of your workouts over a few weeks, said Belafsky, the UC-Davis doctor. “Our bodies are very good at adapting to heat; it just takes time,” she said. Stay hydrated by drinking water a few hours before exercise and listen to your body during the workout. Individuals’ hydration needs vary depending on the activity and weather in which it is being done, and you do not want to overdo it. The best advice is to have water available during your workout and to drink when you’re thirsty. Gatorade or a similar drink are even better than water because they replace chemicals lost in sweat. The elderly are more vulnerable to heat. And many people do not know certain medications can affect heat regulation and sweating. Some oral contraceptives, for example, can increase the resting body temperature by nearly 1 degree Fahrenheit, Minahan says. Jay advises us to be mindful of our heart rate and perceived exertion, and how they compare to how we normally feel doing the same activity in cooler conditions. If your heart rate is noticeably higher in the heat, consider reducing intensity to maintain a heart rate to which you are accustomed. The bottom line: Be aware of heat and humidity conditions, hydrate, listen to your body while exercising and scale back when needed. “‘Do less’ is my shortest advice,” Belafsky said.

48 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Style The divisive clog-like footwear has slowly been drawing in longtime critics. I have a confession to make. I may be coming around to the idea of wearing Crocs. Let me put this into context. Back in November last year I was invited onto a well known radio station to debate the merits of Crocs as a stylish footwear choice. British Vogue fashion features editor Laura Hawkins made the case in favor of the ugly-chic shoe; I was firmly against. If you can believe it, there is precedent for wearing yellow Crocs to royal engagements. The catalyst for November’s radio debate was that David Hockney had worn a yellow pair to Buckingham Palace (with a suit), and they’d garnered a compliment from King Charles: “Your yellow galoshes!” His Majesty remarked. “Beautifully chosen.” I am not here to question the aesthetic choices of the great artist, but I will say that he carries them off well. Perhaps the King, a keen gardener, also has a pair for pottering around at Highgrove. There are many other famous Crocs fans: Heidi Klum, Amanda Seyfried, Pharrell Williams, Dame Helen Mirren… Crocs’ designer collaborations with the likes of Balenciaga, Liberty and artist Takashi Murakami sell out fast and are regularly spotted on front rows at fashion week. In fact, it was Christopher Kane’s 2016 collaboration with Crocs that put them on the fashion map in the first place. Fans delight in decorating their Crocs with Jibbitz (emoji-like adornments which can be pinned to the clog’s upper). Meanwhile Bottega Veneta and Gucci have created their own takes on the chunky clog, albeit with a much, much higher price tag. Fashion writer Emily Johnston has long been in favor of the Croc. “I bought a pair of lobster print Crocs in 2018 as a joke thinking I’d only wear them on my parents’ island in South Carolina. When I tell you I slid them on and didn’t wear anything else all summer it’s no word of a lie,” she says. “They are so anti-style that somehow it makes them the most BY TAMARA ABRAHAM The Telegraph Hard to believe it, but Crocs are finally winning me over

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 49 Style stylish thing I own. They announce to the world, ‘I do not care what you think, I believe they’re stylish and this confidence I’m rocking while wearing them will make you believe it too.’” Unlike a lot of fashion items, Crocs are truly democratic. You don’t need a Bottega budget to tap into the look – the Croc, from $50, is more authentic anyway. Like Birkenstocks and Teva hiking sandals, two other “fugly” (fashionable-butugly) summer shoe trends, they are comfortable and practical – no wonder they are widely worn by hospital workers, chefs and gardeners, for whom wipeclean footwear is essential. But still they are divisive. Just as many friends within the fashion industry detest Crocs as love them. It’s fashion’s very own Marmite. “I dated a guy who wore Crocs; it gave me ‘the ick’ so much, I said we should just be friends,” one admitted to me. When Justin Bieber gifted a lilac pair from his own collaboration with the brand to Victoria Beckham in 2021, she asked her Instagram followers whether she should wear them: 43 percent were in favor, but she later revealed she’d “rather die.” I used to feel the same way. A lot can change in the space of a few months though, and this summer, fed up with the fight of helping my 2-year-old twins put on their sneakers every time they went in and out of the garden, I began a search for shoes they could put on themselves. Crocs met all the criteria: comfortable, affordable, available in a broad range of colors. So I did what I once said I’d never do and made an actual Crocs purchase – and, I try to say this as objectively as possible, the children look absolutely adorable in them. My husband, who does most of the gardening, also has a pair by the back door, making me the only member of the family who hasn’t succumbed to the Croc. Suddenly, I’ve started getting fashion FOMO. So what’s changed? Am I just a late adopter? Am I middle-aged? Am I finally caring less about what other people think? It could be all of the above. For the past seven or eight years, there has been sustained demand for Crocs as both a practical and a fashion shoe, but there has been a fresh surge of enthusiasm on TikTok, now the social media platform on which trends really gather steam. Teenagers and students happily wear them with socks, crop-tops, partywear and loungewear, whilst their “Boomer” grandparents consider them every bit as jolly and practical as their Joules dachshund-print wellies. Perhaps it’s just Gen-Xers and older millennials like me who approach the Croc with such hesitance? Crocs reported a nearly 34 percent year-on-year rise in revenue in the first quarter of 2023. In other words, Crocs aren’t leaving the fashion landscape anytime soon. There is, of course, an overwhelming volume of choice when it comes to buying my first pair of Crocs. Not just myriad colors and patterns, but platforms, open toes and Jibbitz galore. Bannerman recommends choosing a black or navy pair, because they are the most timeless and will go with everything. Good to know, because, she adds, they are extremely durable: “I just clean mine in the washing machine – my son’s got a tie-dye pair and they look like new.” Rule two? “Pair them with something incongruous, like a pretty dress or a slouchy suit – something you wouldn’t expect to see them with,” she says. “I like that Crocs add a more functional element that just makes things feel a bit cooler.” It’s enough to convince me to invest in a pair and experiment with Bannerman’s suggestions – although the jury’s still out on whether I’ll wear them anywhere beyond the garden. Watch this space …

50 Vero Beach 32963 / July 27, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Style From dedicated personal shoppers, to seasonal wardrobe managers, the world of children’s fashion is evolving. When the supermodel Naomi Campbell posted on Instagram to announce the arrival of her new baby boy to the world, she thanked God for the blessing – and the super-stylist Rodney Burns for the Dolce & Gabbana romper. Campbell’s new son is likely Burns’ smallest client – his biggest being Pharrell Williams, with whom Burns collaborated in June on his debut Louis Vuitton catwalk show. Yet in crediting Burns for his work (even if in this case, he had possibly just bought his good friend a new baby gift) Campbell has acknowledged the curious role of the ‘baby stylist’ – a job that has previously existed only behind the scenes in the fashion industry. In February this year, Rihanna credited her eight-month-old son’s stylist, Matthew Henson, for sourcing the black leather diaper cover he wore on the cover of British Vogue. The magazine’s editor Edward Enninful had dressed the pop star and her partner, rapper A$AP Rocky, for the series of family portraits – yet Henson received a separate nod for his part. Beyoncé is known to have employed Manuel Mendez for several years to curate wardrobes for her three children, including eldest daughter Blue Ivy, now 11, since she was born. Kim Kardashian’s personal image-maker, Dani Levi, will frequently shop for her four children’s wardrobes, at the same time as dressing their famous mother. In many of these instances, the BY CAROLINE LEAPER The Telegraph INSIDE THE LIFE OF A BABY STYLIST TO THE SUPER-RICH